Independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe is asking Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya to produce the negotiated contract between the government and the Korean-Filipino consortium that will conduct maintenance operations on the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).

Poe, who chairs the Senate Sub-committee on Public Services that is looking into issues surrounding the MRT maintenance, wants to review the P3.8 billion, three-year contract with the consortium following Abaya's pronouncements that Busan Transportation Corp., which operates Busan Metro in South Korea, would no longer be backing out.

Busan Transportation Corp. was earlier reported to be withdrawing from the contract with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) because it feared facing lawsuits due to the controversial 11th hour awarding of the contract to a consortium, which includes Edison Development & Construction, Tramat Mercantile, Inc., TMICorp Inc. and Castan Corp.

Of the four firms in the joint venture, only the Korean company has the technical know-how in railway maintenance. The consortium took over the maintenance works of the MRT-3's rolling stock and signaling system on January 5.

Poe said that in previous hearings on the woeful MRT-3 operations last year, the Senate Sub-committee on Public Services has already asked for documents from the DOTC but has not received the pertinent contracts from its officials.

Poe pointed out that the difficulty in securing documents such as government contracts underscores the need for the Freedom of Information Act, which the senator has been pushing for since she was elected in 2013.

Poe said she would immediately schedule a hearing on the MRT maintenance when Congress resumes session on January 18. She, however, expressed frustration that lawmakers can only do so much to correct any failings on the part of national agencies.

Poe and other lawmakers have called for the removal of Abaya from the DOTC but President Benigno Aquino III said Abaya, the president of the ruling Liberal Party which the Chie Executive chairs, will stay on as DOCT chief until the end of his term.